The Banaras Hindu University administration has denied that it ordered a lathi charge on women students protesting against the inaction and victim-blaming after an alleged molestation case.
BHU chief proctor O.N.Singh said the police acted in self-defence after the group of protesters, which he claimed was full of outsiders and “anti-social elements,” pelted stones at the security forces and tried to break into the hostels.
“There was no lathi charge. The protesting crowd had a large number of anti-social and miscreant elements in it and they broke the Triveni Gate and tried to enter forcefully into the girls’ hostels. They pelted stones at the police, who acted in their defence. Some policemen also received injuries,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu .
Mr. Singh said he had repeatedly appealed the students to maintain peace and claimed the administration did not resort to any excessive action.
He also informed that the administration would advance the Puja vacation for students and asked students to vacate the hostels by 4 pm. A notification would be passed this evening to 10-12 hostels that were involved in protests, he said.
Journalists to meet CM
Meanwhile, a delegation of journalists is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to raise voice against the alleged police action against journalists covering the protest. At least two journalists were injured and they allege the police did not let them go to the hospital for treatment, said the UP state accredited correspondents committee. A delegation of UPSACC has also left for Varanasi.
In an earlier statement issued by the BHU, the central varsity alleged the protest by the girl students was “part of a conspiracy to defame the institution.”
The administration said that some professionals wearing the cloak of social and political activists were misleading students, making them pawns. Alleging that the protest was “totally politically motivated” and staged and planned to stain PM Narendra Modi’s Varanasi trip, the BHU said. Apart from outsiders, the protestors also included students who had faced disciplinary action in the past.
“Large number of outsiders”
Commenting on the security inside the campus, the BHU said it ran a 24-hour security mechanism in the 1360 acre campus but also cited that the varsity had a large number of outsiders commuting through it.
People from outside come in large numbers to visit the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, the 1550-bed Sir Sundarlal hospital and the 334-bed trauma centre and around one lakh people are in the campus at any given time given the flow of commuters and bikers who pass through it, the varsity said.
